Saturday, January 30, 2010

What's the best flooring for a bathroom? There is no one perfect answer for this, but there are 3 choices that are the obvious fit for a bathroom. When considering remodeling a bathroom or when building a home your two primary concerns for bathroom flooring should be water / moisture and ease of maintenance. The three best options are ceramic or some other form of natural tile, luxury vinyl tiles and planks, or resilient vinyl sheet flooring.

Ceramic and other natural tiles are an excellent choice. Natural tiles are water resistant and can hold up under very adverse moisture conditions. You also have a ton of options for color choices for the tile itself and also grout colors. The only drawback to ceramic and other natural tiles is cleaning grout. Be sure to use a high quality grout sealer to help down the road with keeping clean.

My favorite option is luxury vinyl tiles and planks. Luxury vinyl is considerably different than traditional resilient vinyl sheet flooring. Luxury vinyl is built to handle traffic unlike any other floor. It also incorporates a very rugged backing system that makes luxury vinyl waterproof. It is also stain proof and has built in mold inhibitors and is hypo allergenic. With luxury vinyl you can use tiles that look like ceramic, slate marble etc. Some brand have a built in grout line while other use design strips that look like grout. There are even luxury vinyl tiles that let you use real grout (I'm not a fan of this option too much though as it still creates cleaning issues later). The luxury vinyl plank option finally gives consumers a choice for those who want hardwood looking floors in the bathroom. Luxury vinyl planks realistically recreate the look and feel of real wood flooring. Karndean and Earthwerks are excellent options to look at if you want to use luxury vinyl. Call us for the best pricing anywhere on luxury vinyl at Beckler's, 1-800-232-5537.

Resilient sheet vinyl may not be a trendy choice, but it is still a solid option for wet areas like bathrooms. Some of the newer styles do look much better than in years past and a vinyl floor is the easiest to clean without question. You do have a lot of options to choose from in this type of vinyl flooring. Armstrong, Congoleum, Mannington, Tarkett, Domco and Flexitec. Depending on which brand and pattern you select in a vinyl sheet goods floor, this will probably be the least expensive option for a durable bathroom floor.

Why no mention of hardwood or laminate flooring? Hardwood and laminate should not be considered for bathrooms. Some will tell you that engineered hardwood is designed to handle moisture better than solid hardwood floors (which it is and they are correct), however it is not designed to handle the constant moisture and humidity a bathroom will have. Hardwood floors are much more suited for other living areas in the house but not a bathroom. Laminate floors are the biggest no-no for a bathroom. Laminate floors absolutely hate moisture and humidity and will buckle quickly in most bathroom applications. Yes, I know there are a few "new" brands of laminate floors that say they are approved and warranted for use in wet areas like bathrooms and kitchens but I'm still not sold on the concept of these. This "new" style tries to use better barriers and seals at the seams of the laminate planks. That's a big risk to take when there are other proven options out there. The end thought here is that if you want the look of hardwood in a bathroom use luxury vinyl planks, it's your best bet.

Beckler's Carpet in Dalton carries many types of ceramic tile, luxury vinyl planks and tile and every brand of resilient sheet vinyl flooring. Give us a call to save money on your project, 1-800-232-5537 or visit our website at BecklersCarpet.com! We are more than glad to ship you out a free sample of anything you see on our site and offer some of the best freight rates in the country. We know that with our prices we can still beat your local price even if we have to ship it!

Of course if you live in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Birmingham, Knoxville, or Nashville we are just a short drive away. Call us for directions, 1-800-232-5537. We are also open on Saturdays until 4 pm for extra shopping convienence.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Tiny Town discount carpet tiles are awesome! For a child's room or playroom, these do it yourself carpet tiles are very cool and your children will love it! With beautiful detail to roads and buildings your kids can play with their cars and trucks on these carpet tiles for hours and hours.

Since these are actually carpet tiles and not rugs, you can use the to do an entire room or just put some together to create a rug, at $1.49 per square foot (while supplies last, we bought these at a super price!), these Tiny Town carpet tiles by Joy Carpet are a steal! The other nice thing is that the way these Tiny Town tiles are designed is that the seams don't show when you put them together. They even have a tacky back so you don't even need to glue or tape them down.

You can also use these day cares, church playrooms etc. Kids love these and you will too!

We currently have these in stock and ready to ship out. Give us a call at BecklersCarpet.com, 1-800-232-5537. Ask for Lamar Dixon or Beth Starks to help with a firm quote including shipping. You can also view these and others on our discount carpet tile page at our website BecklersCarpet.com.

You can use carpet tiles almost anywhere and are an unbeatable value. Beckler's has a large inventory of these and many other types of cheap carpet squares. Give us a call on your next flooring project, 1-800-232-5537.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A popular engineered hardwood flooring option is often referred to in the floor industry as a longstrip product. (Beckler's has a great deal right now on longstrip engineered hardwood flooring for $1.99 per foot).

A longstrip engineered wood plank is a wide board, usually around 7" or so and the boards tend to be quite long, 6' or more to give stability. Why the need for added stability. Well, a longstrip wood flooring plank can usually be glued, stapled or floated. A floating floor means that no glue or staples are used. The click lock design of the boards is used to hold the boards together.

Longstrip plank hardwood flooring is offered typically in two styles, single strip and two strip. Single strip boards are when the wide plank is just that, one strip of true veneer top hardwood. Two strip designs are when two narrow boards are used on the top layer to create a wide plank board. When you install a two strip design, it looks like you just installed 2 planks.

The hardwood flooring deal special on longstrip hardwood engineered flooring at BecklersCarpet.com called Country Longstrip is available in a gunstock color. It is first quality, can be refinished later if needed and is only $1.99 per square foot. We will be glad to ship you a free sample, just give us a call at 1-800-232-5537.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

What's the difference between Frieze and Shag carpet? It's a lot easier to show in person than explain in a post but here goes!

Shag carpet is usually constructed with a thicker yarn and with less twist than Frieze carpet. Frieze usually has a slightly shorter height on the yarn that Shag. Due to the lower twist in the yarn in Shag carpet, Shag may sometimes fell softer as well. Although this may seem like a plus, the high amount of twist in Frieze carpet gives it a longer lasting "memory" and helps against heavy traffic and wear.

Frieze is also considered more conservative than Shag. Shag can make a bold statement for a room's decor whereas Frieze is more likely to accent a room's layout.

Shag's and Frieze both offer options besides solid colors. The difference is that Shag has options that are multicolor. In multicolor Shag, the yarn used are still solid colors but two different color yarns are incorporated. With a multicolor Frieze, the yarn is flecked, or spotted and has a salt and pepper look when using multiple colors.

If you're looking for Shag or Frieze carpet, try checking out some of these styles on our carpet deals page on the BecklersCarpet.com website. If you see a few that you think you may like, give us a call at 1-800-232-5537 and we will be glad to get you some free samples on the way to take a look at!

Obviously, if you live within a few hours of Dalton, Ga, for example, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Birmingham, Knoxville or Nashville, take a short drive and come see us!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Earthwerks vinyl planks continue to be strong products in the luxury vinyl market segment. One of the nice features (along with price) of several Earthwerk series is the availability of wide width vinyl plank options. Both the Wood Classic Plank and Montana Plank series are vinyl wood look planks that are over 7 inches wide. Another great feature is that both the Montana and Wood Classic Earthwerk vinyl planks have 20 year residential and 10 year commercial warranties.

The Montana vinyl wood look planks from Earthwerks have a rustic, almost reclaimed look to them (Montana GMP9933 pictured to left). The Montana series has 8 different luxury vinyl plank colors to choose from.

The Wood Classic vinyl planks(GWC 9811 shown to left) from Earthwerks have 6 very good colors to select from. The Wood Classic planks are some of the most realistic planks I have seen in a while. This series also emphasizes heavy character embossing in the knots and scrapes. Wood Classic is a very nice vinyl plank floor!

I have blogged many times about the advantages of luxury vinyl planks over other flooring options. Do not compare these with the cheap peel and stick and come back up later planks you see at the big orange or blue home improvement chain stores. When installed properly, these planks by Earthwerks will last a long time and will maintain their beauty.

Be sure to give yourself a chance to save money when shopping for Earthwerks, Karndean or any other brand of luxury vinyl flooring. Call us at BecklersCarpet.com, 1-800-232-5537 and ask for our luxury vinyl specialist Paul Collins. The phone call is free and it just takes a minute to see what the savings will be! Also, Beckler's doesn't charge sales tax when shipping outside the state of Ga!

Of course if you live nearby in TN, AL or NC or cities such as Chattanooga, Atlanta, Birmingham, Huntsville, Knoxville or Nashville some see us! We are off I-75 exit 328. We are even open on Saturdays until 4pm. Call us if you need directions or more information as well, 1-800-232-5537. You can also visit our Earthwerks vinyl plank and tile page at BecklersCarpet.com

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Shopping for flooring and want to know where is the best place to buy carpet? Obviously I'm biased (hint, BecklersCarpet.com!) but let me layout the options you have and maybe you will see why it's better to buy from a carpet outlet in Dalton, Ga (hint 2, Beckler'sCarpet.com!)

Option 1 - Buy carpet from one of the two large home improvement chains. Sure the convenience is there but that is where it ends. If you do some homework and are able to decipher and compare the private label styles, you will find that the pricing is high when compared to other name brand or other private labels at carpet outlets in Dalton. "But what about the great deals they have on installation for only $79 for a whole house?" Read the fine print. Want them to actually haul off the carpet (novel concept huh?)? It's an upcharge. Have stairs? It's an upcharge. Multiple seams? Bingo, upcharge. Just be sure to truly compare. If you are only shopping for convenience, these stores are for you if you don't mind paying quite a bit more than other options.

Option 2 - Is a local independent flooring store the best place to buy carpet? Maybe, maybe not. There are good ones out there. Once in a while you will find a flooring store that does have a knowledge and offers reasonable deals (hard to find though outside of Dalton). The problem with local dealers is that is a crap shoot. The convenience with these dealers is still a little better than shopping via web and phone with carpet outlets in Dalton, but the savings probably won't be there.

Option 3 - In most cases, the best place to buy carpet is a independent outlet in Dalton, Ga. There are several reasons (it's not just bias!). First, carpet outlets in Dalton, Ga stock more than stores out of town due to the volume of carpet sold daily in Dalton. Carpet is pretty much made in Dalton, so carpet specials, promotional goods, overruns, seconds, etc are bought up by the carpet outlets in Dalton and these goods have been marked up multiple times by the time they make it to your local dealer. If you're buying direct from these Dalton Ga carpet outlets you are getting the carpet long before numerous markups have been applied. Lastly, carpet prices in Dalton are very cutthroat. The large independent dealers are very aggressive with prices and give these same prices to anyone in the country, not just walk in customers.

At BecklersCarpet.com, 1-800-232-5537, we have been selling carpet at wholesale prices sine 1949. As a third generation, family owned carpet outlet we understand the industry and are able to find the best possible carpet specials out there. If you want to save money on your flooring, whether carpet, carpet squares, hardwood, laminate or luxury vinyl planks and tile, we will do our best to help you come in under budget with a beautiful floor. The phone call is free and it only takes a minute to call us @ 1-800-232-5537. We look forward to hearing from you!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Well a New Year has hit! I hope you had a great and safe holiday. 2010 is here and I'm going to put my predictions out there for flooring (do not hold me to this as there are many others out there much more informed than me, but hey it's fun!).

Luxury Carpet will continue to make a a come back. The housing market seems to be coming back and with it demand for higher quality, more plush, rich carpeting will be as well. The lower end, value carpeting products still have their place, but I think house flipping and rental investments will take a while to come back so those buying carpet will be buying for themselves. Along with luxury and designer carpet, I think Smartstrand from Mohawk will also continue to make big splashes.

This next one will upset some people. I think the Eco market in general will die down. Some products like Smartstrand and P.E.T. carpeting will do well, but I think the Bamboo trend is going to start tapering similar to laminate. I have no data to back this up, but Bamboo is a trendy floor subject to lose out to the next fad. Bamboo is a good floor, don't get me wrong, but with other options out there it may start to loose a small bit of luster. Consumers (including myself are fickle and are always looking for the next big thing).

The next big thing is going to continue to be vinyl plank flooring. Not the cheap stuff you get at the big home improvement stores but the luxury vinyl offerings out there. As I saw first hand this year, the public is becoming more aware of the superb qualities of luxury vinyl planks. Luxury vinyl wood looking planks (and vinyl ceramic looking tiles) will continue to be the next big thing. All data I saw last year was this segment grew by over 30%. I expect it to grow even more this year. Look out for the new Do it yourself luxury vinyl floor coming from Armstrong called Luxe.

For great deals on carpet specials, luxury vinyl, Bamboo from $1.99 per foot and our newest, hottest carpet tile deals, call us at Beckler's Carpet in Dalton, Ga 1-800-232-5537 or visit www.BecklersCarpet.com!

Of course if you live in Birmingham, Huntsville, Knoxville, Nashville, Atlanta or Chattanooga come see us! I-75 exit 328. We are open Monday through Friday until 6pm and Saturdays until 2 pm (eastern).